SNL 11-11-06: Alec Baldwin / Christina Aguilera

I always have high hopes when Alec Baldwin hosts, and here's what I want out of this episode.  I want Donald Rumsfeld on Baldwin's "Tony Bennett Show" sketch.  I want Steve Martin to show up and continue the gag between the two hosts about who hosts SNL more.  And I want expect the cast of 30 Rock to have cameos.

Cold Open: Kristen Wiig as new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  They really stick it to the democrats here... welcome back to power blue team.  I believe this'll be Kristen's first "Live from New York..."  Good for her.   Good open too. 

Monologue: Well, I'll be damned, it's Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan to help Baldwin with his monologue.  And well it's basically a big plug for 30 Rock. 

Commercial Parody: Holy crap it's a commerical parody!  I remember those!  This is for a dating website called e-zdate.com that's really an escort service.  See?  You can do these every week Lorne.  That was just filmed in front of a green screen and it looks like any other commerical you see on the air today.  Oh yeah, it was good too. 

Britney Spears Divorce: Amy Poehler is Britney, talking to her lawyer about her divorce.  The sketch is predictable, but it's shot in a bizarre way that I've noticed a lot of this season where Poehler is staring straight at the camera (where the cue cards are) and never looks at the other character in the scene. 

Saddam's Back: Baldwin reprises Saddam Hussein, which both the crowd and I enjoy.  The joke here is that Saddam makes a lot of American pop culture references.  Short but sweet.   

Commerical Parody: Holy crow, another one!  This one is for Valtrex (you know, for your genital herpes).  Awesome. 

Next Week: Ludicris as both host and musical guest.  Seriously, this'll be the low point of the entire season.  Maybe the decade.

Carpool: Baldwin and Wiig are in top form as new carpool friends who keep accidentally offending each other.  "Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother."  I laughed for five minutes at that line. 

Saturday TV Funhouse: An anime of the Japanese hot dog eating guy Kobayashi.  William Perry is in there too for some reason.  I liked this just fine, but South Park already did the best anime parody I've ever seen so this felt a little too "me too!" for my taste. 

The Platinum Lounge: The place where 12 time + hosts of SNL get to hang out.  Alec brings Maya in, but she's quickly bounced for only being a member of the "working cast".  Hooray!  Steve Martin is waiting inside the Platinum Lounge!  Hey, Martin Short is the bartender!  Yay!  They get involved in a Princess Bride-ish routine of trying to poison each other's drinks.  Then, holy hell, Paul McCartney shows up (which seems to totally shock Baldwin, as I think they were expecting Paul Simon).  Wow.  While it wasn't exactly hilarious, THAT'S how you take full advantage of being a live show.  That was fun.

Christina Aguilera performs: I am not a fan of hers, and she looks utterly ridiculous.  I'm not entirely convinced that she's actually singing either.  My mom used to have yarn that looks like this woman's head.

Weekend Update: I just noticed that Seth Meyers' head bobbles around all the time during Update.  Someone should point this out to him.  Meyers interviews Donald Rumsfeld (damn!), but the segment goes nowhere.  That was sad, considering what promise it had.  Amy's Aunt Linda (Wiig) is the new Culture Correspondent and sadly I know people just like her character who just don't get "it".  Andy Samberg plays a waiter who served Tom Cruise recently.  It's such a simple gag but it kinda works. 

The Tony Bennett Show: Hooray!  Tony's guest is Kevin Federline (Samberg).  Haha, he's quickly bounced off the show.  Whoa, his next guest is the real Tony Bennett!  It's fun to have these two talking to one another, as it shows how dead on Baldwin's impression is.  I was going to say it was a pity they already blew the Rumsfeld potential in Update, but screw that... Tony Bennett! 

Rick Corman, Brazil Guy: Baldwin's a dude who moved to Brazil 20 years ago and now he hits on ladies, badly.  Simple.  Decent. 

Christina Aguilera performs again: What era does this person think she's in?

A Moment with the Out-Of-Breath Jogger from 1992:  Ugh, please do not make this a recurring character.  He's 10 years in the future now (although he nearly blows the premise by almost saying 1982 instead of 1992 at one point), and I think he only exists for when the show runs long and they need a sketch that only runs 30 seconds. 

Christina Aguilera performs again (but with Tony Bennett this time): One of these things is not like the other...

What a freakin' show!  Paul McCartney, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Tony Bennett... great sketches... big laughs... surprises... this one had it all.  Also, the photos used as bumpers throughout were all putting Baldwin into famous photographs from the past.  Just really cool.  Top notch folks, well done.  Too bad next week is Ludicris.

Comments

[Anthony]

I found your review interesting because I disagree with it.

But you do watch every week... I haven't watched in years and was expecting better.

Check out my review if you're interested: http://wareviews.blogspot.com/2006/11/when-did-saturday-night-live-get-so-bad.html

[dvdguy]

Yes I watch every week. I can see how tuning in after a few years off might make you think that this blew, but it might have been the best show SNL has managed to pull off since Will Ferrell left.

[Daylightrambler]

I read a few other reviews, and yours is just about spot on. I think a lot of people missed the subtlety of Kristen Wiig's performance as Pelosi. If you've ever watched Pelosi talk, you'll notice her eyes widening at odd intervals, which Wiig nailed.
And yes, "Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother" left me rolling, but so did the squeaking sound after Wiig declared "I'm metal from the waist down."
Pair these performances with her sketch as the concierge when Hugh Laurie hosted and her "Target lady" sketches, and I think Wiig may be one the best perfomers SNL's seen. Too bad the writing has been so subpar.
One last lament; Why can't we see more of Maya Rudolph? She seems to be in a rut since the end of her maternity leave, and I think more screen time would help her greatly.

[dvdguy]

Well, think about the female roles in last night's show. Maya wouldn't have done Nancy Pelosi or Britney Spears just for logistical reasons (and because Poehler has done Spears before).

The carpool sketch... maybe Wiig had a hand in writing that one and therefore, it was her sketch to star in.

No female roles in the Saddam sketch, or The Tony Bennett Show. And that's basically everything there was.

[Jason Elias]

I love Kristen Wiig, she's great.

[dvdguy]

That seems to be the buzz going around. People are really digging Wiig's work on the show.

She's definitely a rock solid sketch performer.

[mastercxtreme]

Phenominal episode. I'll agree with everthing except for the jogger-bit, everyone seems to hate it but it got a chuckle out of me.

I was also impressed with the WU this week, I usually can't stand it, but even Seth had some good lines.

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